Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Al-Sadr sends letter to Bush
Politics, International
(RFE/RL) - Iraqi parliamentarian Liqa al-Yasin read a letter from Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to U.S. President Bush during the April 28 session of parliament. Al-Sadr began by saying that Iraqis and people from around the world, including Democrats and Republicans in the United States, have called for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, adding: "Your occupation is not far from the injustice done by Saddam [Hussein] or the fate of dictatorships, which you know. You ignored your friends and partners, let alone world opinion and Iraqi public opinion."
Al-Sadr denied that any worse chaos could come to Iraq should U.S. forces withdraw. Addressing Bush, he asked: "What terrorism have you repulsed when you have replaced the dictatorship with the Takfiris [nonbelievers]? What Ba'ath Party have you uprooted when you are calling for their return to our government? What weapons have you disarmed...? What sectarianism have you eliminated...? Is this the democracy you want?"
Muqtada al-Sadr also commented on the 2001 World Trade Center bombing in his letter to President Bush, claiming the United States diverted the war on terror to Iraq. Al-Sadr said: "If a tower was destroyed in the United States, what sin have we Iraqis committed? If Saddam destroyed it, he is now burning in hell. If you claim that it was destroyed by the terrorists, you are the one who opened wide the doors of Iraq for them so as to kill while you [in America] enjoy peace." Al-Sadr said a U.S. withdrawal would be a victory for "honorable Iraqis" who defended their independence, adding, "It is not a victory for terrorism."
Labels: George Bush, Moqtada Al-Sadr
